Occupy Wall Street: Frequently Asked Questions

These FAQs can help you as you speak with members of the public at the street level, through the press, or during organizing meetings. None of the below constitute demands. They are merely guidelines for ways to approach commonly asked questions about Occupied Wall Street.

What is Occupy Wall Street? Occupy Wall Street is an otherwise unaffiliated group of concerned citizens like you and me, come together around one organizing principle: We will not remain passive as formerly democratic institutions become the means of enforcing the will of only 1-2% of the population who control the magnitude of American wealth. Occupy Wall Street is an exercise in direct democracy. We feel we can no longer make our voices heard as we watch our votes for change usher in the same old power structure time and time again. Since we can no longer trust our elected representatives to represent us rather than their large donors, we are creating a microcosm of what democracy really looks like. We do this to inspire one another to speak up. It is a reminder to our representatives and the moneyed interests that direct them: we the people still know our power. What do you want: what are you protesting for/against? We are not a protest movement. We do not protest against things, and we do not have one or two simple demands (though many demand them of us). We are a movement which does call for accountability, however accountability to ourselves and to our country. 1. We must be accountable to ourselves. First and foremost, we are calling upon ourselves, and upon one another, to wake up and employ our power as citizens: to participate rather than observe, to raise our strong voices together, rather than complaining feebly in isolation. We cannot 'whine' about the injustices wreaked upon us if we have been complacent and silent in the face of these injustices. We must take responsibility for our own futures and here at Liberty Plaza, that is exactly what we doing, by modeling the kind of society in which everyone has a right to live. Here in Liberty Plaza, having lost our sense that we live in a democracy, we are reclaiming its practice. 2. Our government must be accountable to us, and corporations must be accountable to the government. We are saying definitively: We no longer live in a democracy, and we refuse to accept that. We seek an end to the collusion between corrupt politicians and corporate criminals, as democratic and capitalist institutions have become conflated.1 As such we must see major advances in the arena of the relationship between corporations, and people, on par with the amendments which outlawed slavery and assured civil rights to all people regardless of race, sex, or class. We want what everybody wants: the ability to have a home, to make a livelihood, to have a family or a community, to live free. We all want economic and social justice. Thus, we are protesting for the rights of the 99% - for our most basic rights as citizens: to convene, to express ourselves, and to be heard. We are unified by our sense of economic injustice, as a result of both our domestic and foreign policies. Who is involved? From which communities and organizations do we come? A diverse group of communities and organizations from a surprisingly wide political spectrum have come together around Occupy Wall Street. We have no leader we work autonomously, and most of us are unaffiliated with any particular group. We have come together as concerned individuals who simply want our collective voice heard as a movement inspired by, and resembling, the organized spontaneity of social movements across the Middle East and Europe. However, there is involvement by unions, student groups, and existing social justice organizations. More of them join us every day. Importantly: This movement is comprised of thousands of people who have committed themselves to nonviolence, in contradistinction from 'the powers that be'. As our tax dollars increasingly serve to reinforce the State's monopoly on violence, we are taking back the People's monopoly - our natural monopoly on expression, voice.
1 In the United States, the right to become rich has become collapsed with the very notion of liberty. From the time we are children, Americans learn to confuse democracy (a system of decisionmaking and governance), with capitalism (a system for regulating and releasing money flows).

How long do people intend to stay at the plaza? We will stay until change happens! Until broad swaths of the American population realize that it is we, the 99% alone, who can reclaim society from the domination of the 1%. Democracy has never been a spectator sport, and Americans have an obligation, particularly if we claim to love our country, to build serious and meaningful change from the bottom up. How do you work? Liberty Plaza provides an inspiring space for people to meet one another, discuss and organize. Here, we engage in horizontal democracy. This means that we are a leaderless movement, in which every voice is equal and autonomous action is encouraged. This also means we cannot be easily defined by observers, and that we cannot be easily hijacked by outside forces. We try as much as we can to gain consensus because we believe everyone's experience is equally valid, every voice and opinion should be heard, and none more than any other. In order to assure that all voices are heard and to facilitate better communication in a non-hierarchical meeting, we commit to engaging in meeting process. Rather than a bunch of organizers deciding on demands a year before the protest date, thousands of people are showing up at Liberty Plaza to say their piece during General Assembly meetings, held each night after the protests. Together we are working out our Call to Action in a horizontal, transparent, and democratic way, rather than top-down, i.e. from people behind the scenes. Unlike at rallies, where protestors convene to listen to speeches, we directly participate in relating the needs of our movement ourselves. What are the risks of joining the occupation? It is unlikely that you will get arrested unless you are prepared to. If you are unwilling to be arrested, or feel you cannot because you are not a U.S. citizen, or are a minor, there are ways to protect yourself from arrest, the most important being: remaining non-violent. Check www.nycga.com for legal information and advice on these topics. As of 10.8.11 ~ 800 people had been arrested; none were charged with committing a violent act. Are you like the Tea Party? No! This exercise in participatory democracy is meant to shed todays political overtones of divisiveness, disrespect, mistrust, and marginalization. Many Tea Party politicians have consciously circumvented the best safeguards built into our democratic process. Further, the Tea Party hearkens back to the Revolutionary War era; however, what its current leaders call for is not revolution, but to go back in time. Increasingly, many hearken to the days before the Boston Tea Party itself - when only the propertied elite could vote, and when those votes were advisory at best, with the important decisions left to the owners and operators of the major corporations (colonies). At best, the Tea Party as it stands today, ignores the lessons of history about taxation, workers' rights, unions, and deregulation. At worst, when today's Tea Party politicians speaks of the time of the Founding Fathers, they often mean the time before the environmental movement, the civil rights era, the women's movement, the worker's rights movement, the end of slavery, and even the time before the Boston Tea Party itself. So this leads back to the question: Why do we seem to have not just one, but many demands? Precisely because we are a movement descended from each and every one of these movements: The abolitionist movement, the workers' rights movement, the women's movement, the civil rights movement, the feminist and queer liberation movements, the environmental movement. We welcome all who will join in this exercise of participatory democracy, as we challenge what we know to be the greatest obstacle to the democratic progression of these movements. General Info:
Where is Liberty Plaza? Broadway at Liberty Street near Ground Zero. When are things happening? All the time! But check out General Assembly at 7 PM What can I expect when I get down there? Something youve never experienced before in this way - a real democratic space. Even if you are not sure you are on-board, come check it out. Who should I talk to if I want to get involved with a committee or subgroup? Come to the welcome table, run by the Outreach Working Group. There you can sign up to join a Working Group or one of its subgroups, or create a new Thematic group. There are many ways to show support: Choose your medium and run with it! Check out this website currently broadcasting from Liberty Plaza:

www.nycga.com